Kirkland & Ellis grew revenue by 22% last year to $8.8bn – a new high for the Am Law 100 – as profits per equity partner (PEP) jumped 16% to $9.3m.  

The global giant’s headline financial results, reported by law.com, follow revenue growth of 10% and 8% in the previous two years and are in line with its barnstorming performance in 2021 when a record global deals market helped the firm boost turnover by 25% to cross $6bn for the first time.  

The firm’s latest results see it push well ahead of Latham & Watkins, its nearest rival in terms of revenue, which upped turnover 23% last year to $7bn against a bullish 29% rise in PEP to $7.1m.

Among other top 10 US firms that have so far reported, White & Case grew revenue 12.5% in 2024 to $3.3bn against a 27% jump in PEP to $4m.  

Kirkland’s PEP increase came as the firm grew its equity partner count by 6.3% to 573, law.com reported, while revenue per lawyer also rose by a healthy 12% last year to just under $2.3m. 

Alongside investments in its partnership, the firm expanded into Germany last year, opening in Frankfurt, having launched its only to-date Middle East office in Riyadh in 2023, a market where the firm says it is supporting a rapidly growing roster of clients. 

In a less-than-optimal market for deals work last year, the firm’s strength in M&A saw it retain its place at the top of London Stock Exchange Group’s global ranking by deal value, after working on deals worth $448.2bn, representing 14% market share. 

Standout work included repping EQT on its $35bn merger with Equitrans Midstream and acting for Thoma Bravo on its £4.3bn acquisition of cyber security company Darktrace. 

Meantime, on the funds side Kirkland acted for Oaktree Capital Management on the final close of a fund that included roughly $16bn of commitments, as well Ares Management Corporation on the formation of a €17.1bn European direct lending fund. 

The firm made a series of hires into its 600-lawyer funds practice last year, including two teams from Goodwin Procter in the US and fund finance heavyweight Andrew Husdan from Clifford Chance in London.

Kirkland’s London office saw a series of partner exits for Paul Weiss last year, although the firm also hired its first structured finance partner in the City as it prioritised growing its new structured finance and structured private credit practice amid increased demand for those products across private equity and private credit. 

Meantime, Kirkland’s formidable litigation team successfully defended Samsung in a $4bn semiconductor patent infringement lawsuit. It also defended EQT and Gulfport Energy in a case in which plaintiff landowners sought more than $100m for alleged mineral trespassing. 

The firm’s disputes practice got off to a strong start in 2025, luring a mass tort team from Skadden led by renowned trial lawyer Allison Brown, in a move that saw the firm open an office in Philadelphia.